Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
 Oscar Contest 2010... is open!The Eighth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest has finally begun. I've added a thirteenth category this year - Best Original Score - to lessen the odds of a tie. As usual, the number of dead people in the obituary montage will be the tiebreaker. And what do you get if you win? Why, it's a Sparkly Emo Vampire Sockmonkey Playset! (And don't worry, Twilight-haters. I've catered for you too.) You can go here to make your entry. You can see all the current entries here. The contest will end the minute the ceremony begins! Read on for more photos and details of the prize! [more...] Thursday, February 25, 2010
So when I last updated, I'd just found out that I do not have plantar fasciitis and that my doctor cleared me to run. Of course, I still had a raging cold. Well, the Snook and I went off to Kiama and did a 4.2km hike through the rain forest. It was a pretty good workout, and my foot felt fine through it. This week I've walked home from work twice, and on Tuesday I felt good enough to go for my first run in nearly two weeks. I wore my New Balance shoes instead of my Newtons, reckoning that my feet would welcome the extra padding. It was a warm day and I'm not at 100%, so I went slow. I aimed for more of a mid-foot strike, as I suspect in my Newtons I'm landing a bit too far forward. It felt fine at first, but after 20 minutes the niggle in my foot came back. It's not really pain. It's like a sort of a tender ache. My right arch felt like I'd just spent 12 hours walking around at DisneyWorld. You know that feeling? Not a sharp pain by any means, but a tightness and tenderness along the whole arch from the ball of my foot to the start of my heel. I still finished the run, taking a few walk breaks when necessary to keep my heart rate low. That night I went through the whole spiel my doctor had prescribed: self-massage, stretch, strengthen, and ice. I went to Spudds on Wednesday and it didn't bother me at all. So the problem is specifically related to longer periods (20 minutes or more) of continuous running. Good to know. From now on, I'll be taking preemptive walk breaks on all my runs. Feb. 20: 4.2km (hike) Feb. 22: 2.54km (walk) Feb. 23: 5.06km Feb. 24: 2.53km (walk) Total this week: 14.3km Total in 2010: 151.5km (94.7mi) I'm counting the walks and hike this week because it was the only exercise that I could do. I am now 2.3km behind schedule to meet my 1000km goal. That's okay. I'm just about over this cold, and I think my running distances will creep back up.
Do women take the backseat to men? I actually reflected to the Snook on the weekend how much I appreciate the fact that I get to do all the driving in the relationship. Which is kind of a weird observation in and of itself, because he's not really giving up any task he wanted to do anyway. From my perspective, I'm thinking about particular women I knew back in Indiana who never drove and wouldn't even pump their own gas. From the Snook's perspective, he just really hates to drive and I've got a lot more experience with it. So we both get what we want, really.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I just have to say that I LOVE random tumblr sites the way I used to love lolcats when they were fresh and new. THAT MUCH.
Monday, February 22, 2010
 Weekend in KiamaFor those who weren't following along on Twitter, the Snook and I spent last weekend in Kiama on the south coast of New South Wales. It was BEAUTIFUL. I took a bunch of photos. Special thank you to Kylie and Ailsa for meeting up with us at the Guild meeting and going out for coffee afterwards! (And thanks to Miss Fee for looking in on the oblivious felines.)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
If you've been listening to the podcast, you'll have heard all about The Saga of Kris's Right Foot over the past week. It started with tenderness/pain in my right arch while I was running, then that turned into sharper pain on the outside of my right heel. Last Friday I went to see Dr. Maja Markovic at Sydney Uni Sports Medicine. She poked and prodded my foot and took a look at my shoes. She said that my plantar fascia felt tight, and she advised a bone scan to rule out the serious stuff (stress fracture, heel spur, or full-blown plantar fasciitis). I went in for that on Tuesday. They dosed me up with radioactive technetium and then took pictures of my feet and legs over the course of a couple hours. (Though it was a weak dose and I was only radioactive for less than a day, they told me to avoid standing near any children or pregnant women! Fun.) On Wednesday I got the verdict: no serious bone problems and no PF. Hooray! Dr. Markovic has cleared me to run again. Basically, we think the problem was just that I've been overworking my feet (specifically my arches with the forefoot running). The scan showed some inflammation on the outside of my right foot, presumably because I've been favoring the arch by shifting my weight to the outside. (That's also why my heel has been hurting.) She's given me a routine of massage, stretching, strengthening, and icing to do, and she also wants me to see a podiatrist before I buy new shoes. But I can ease back into running again. Of course, I caught a cold on Monday so I've got to get over that first. If it's not one thing, it's another! Feb 17: 2.5km Total this week: 2.5km Total in 2010: 137.2km (85.75mi) The only "workout" I got in this week was walking home from work yesterday. I don't normally count walking in my weekly total, but given the doctor's orders to start back slowly, I think this one counts. My 20km cushion in the 1000km Challenge has evaporated, and I'm now exactly on track with where I should be. I told you it'd come in handy!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
This is where I tell you about the Snook's crazy idea to reprogram a Billy Bass microchip to say "I'm allergic to vagina" and implant it into a sparkly sock monkey. And people think *I* come up with crazy ideas...
The third episode of the Geek Girl Runner podcast is now available! Right off the bat, I just have to apologise for the voice quality in this one. I caught a raging cold on Monday night, and I just didn't want to wait any longer to record so I sound quite stuffed up. I was also radioactive (yes, seriously) and possibly feverish so I probably ramble a little more than usual. At any rate, thanks to everyone who listened to the first two episodes and gave feedback. This episode features: my (non-)training update; emails, comments, and shoutouts; and a discussion about running injuries. Show links: My long run (with photos) Wikipedia: bone scan Mother's Day Classic - join the Geek Girl Runner team! Lindfield Rotary FunRun You Don't Have to Run Alone podcast by Ted Beveridge AAPSM treatment for plantar fasciitis Thanks as usual to Nick Arthur for the use of his song "Little Donut Party". Please give me some feedback and let me know what you think! Monday, February 15, 2010
Kevin has done a mammoth post about love songs for Valentine's Day, and you should go check it out. The big revelation for me though was that the Killers did a cover of "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits. How did I not know this?! That is one of my favorite, favorite songs. Kevin prefers the original, but I'll always have a soft spot for the raw desperation of the Indigo Girls' version. (I remember drunkenly belting that out many times with my college roommates. Yeah, I hung out with a lot of lesbians.) That said, I really like the Killers' version too. Just bought it off iTunes, in fact... Friday, February 12, 2010
Kinokuniya (the best book store in Sydney) will having a Craft Fair on Saturday, February 27th. The Inner City Guild group will be there giving free knitting help to anybody who drops by. The shop will also be giving 20% off all craft books! WIN-WIN if you ask me.
Huh. I had no idea that was from a real quote!
My old London buddy Christian Heilmann (who I caught up with in Sydney last year) has a great blog post up about public speaking for women. Christian was one of three speakers at this event designed to encourage more women to get out there and do more public speaking. He's put up details about the event, including some slide decks and audio recordings. I'm more confident with public speaking than most, and I attribute a lot of that to being on the Speech team in high school. I also get regular practice at Guild meetings (where I have to lead 30+ people for two hours); Guild presentations (I'm taking my "Welcome to the Knitternet" talk on the road to Kiama next weekend); and teaching the occasional knitting class. One of my goals for the Guild this year is to get more members comfortable with speaking and presenting. It's good for them personally, plus it also furthers my goal of preparing an army of knitters to take over the Guild. (MWAHAHAHA!) So if you're a woman and you're nervous about standing up in front of a group of your peers, hit up Christian's site and watch his presentation. You're gonna need it, sooner or later.
Registration is now open for the 2010 Mother's Day Classic. These races take place all over Australia and raise money for breast cancer research. I previously ran it in Sydney's Domain in 2006, 2008, and 2009. I'll be running it again this year, and I've created a Geek Girl Runner team that you're all welcome to join. (Yes, boys as well as girls!) Hope to see you all there! Thursday, February 11, 2010
I've backed off a little bit this week. When I was doing my run on Sunday, I noticed I was having some problems with my right foot. It just felt a little "dead," you know? Like it was heavier than normal and not as springy. Tired. Like how your foot feels after you've been walking around DisneyWorld all day. On Monday I had a wicked hard workout at Spudds. I took Tuesday off as I had to fit in an appointment with my allergy specialist. On Wednesday I went for my usual run, but the problems with my right foot were still there. Now I could feel a distinct dull ache on the inside of the ball of my foot, near the arch. I ended up walking the last 1.5km of the run. I did my Spudds workout at lunchtime and it felt fine (except when running uphill). Wednesday night I iced it, and I took today off to rest. I don't think it's Plantar fasciitis since I don't have any heel pain. It could be just a strained muscle in my foot. I'm going to ice it again tonight, and I'll do an easy run tomorrow morning to test it. I'm booked in to see a sports physician Friday night just to make sure it's okay. At any rate, slightly lower totals this week... Feb 5: 5.62km Feb 7: 6.65km Feb 10: 6.00km Total this week: 18.27km (11.4mi) Total in 2010: 134.7km (81.2mi) This is the first week where I didn't run the 19.2km I need to average to meet my 1000km challenge. This is where having that cushion comes in handy. I'm still 19km ahead of schedule! Wednesday, February 10, 2010
I have a new favorite iPhone app: ToonPAINT. The Creative Director at work showed it to me yesterday and I bought it immediately. It takes a photo and turns it into a cartoon. You can tweak the sketch effect, and then you can paint in sections if you want. Here are some that I made from photos I already had on my phone:     The app is fairly intuitive to use. The finger painting works much better than I expected. (It's downright magical.) You can export your finished sketches in normal and high resolution. I've already used it to set my new Twitter avatar. You could also use it to make a really neat colouring book for your kids. Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sorry to have gotten your hopes up. I wanted to do one this week, but I've been kinda swamped. I'm busy at work; the Knitters Guild (of which I am both a group convenor and the webmaster) is embroiled in scandal; and I have to go see my allergy specialist (which throws off my whole weekly workout schedule). It's just one of those weeks. See, this is why I didn't promise an episode a week from the beginning! On a more positive note, I did get to Spudds tonight for a workout. (I missed both workouts last week on account of busy-ness.) This wasn't our normal work session; this was an actual public class that I paid for myself. There were 8 other people there, mostly guys but a couple ladies as well. I had the bright idea to wear my heart rate monitor for it, for the first time ever. We did a brisk warmup with light weights, then ran around the block. (I was already pushing 140bpm at the end of the run.) The first circuit involved the climber, the spin bike, two different rowing machines, two different stations involving a high step, a stairmaster, and free weights. We had one minute at each one, then 30 seconds recovery to move to the next. I pushed as hard as I could. I saw that I was peaking up near 160 at times. When I got to the final rowing station, I took time to clear my head and concentrate. The rower is my nemesis, and my perpetual goal is to get 100 meters in 20 seconds. I know I can do it if I have good form, but if I'm tired or distracted I flail uselessly. I strapped in, pictured what I needed to do, and got 'er done. When the readout showed "100m" at the end, I let out a mighty roar. (I really did.) Unfortunately that marked the high point of the workout for me. I was pretty spent after that. We did another lap around the block and then came back for a second circuit. This one involved running on the treadmill, skipping rope, boxing in the ring, squats, free weights, and two stations in the "hot room." (It's a tiny room with electric heaters inside like a sauna, and you actually have to use a stationary bike and elliptical in there!) I was fading. The heart rate was still high, but I could tell I had used up my reserves. I was getting a little light-headed. I made it through my turn in the ring and then headed to the front door. I needed fresh air. I ended up spending the last 10 minutes of the class sitting on the stoop and trying not to puke. (It was close there for a minute.) Eventually my brain came back into my head and I could move again. As I collected my backpack to head home, I thought to check my heart rate monitor. At some point during the workout, I hit a peak of 178bpm. That's nuts. No wonder I felt pukey! Anyway, that's where I'm at. Send me an update or leave a comment and let me know how you're going with your training!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A hot and muggy week. I missed going to Spudds three times this week, which really sucked. (Monday I was sick; Wednesday I had meetings all day.) I think the week off from weight training helped me though. My run this morning felt great, and I was able to keep a consistent pace and heart rate without too much effort. The weekly totals... Jan 29: 5.17km Jan 31: 7.8km Feb 2: 5.47km Feb 4: 5.53km Total this week: 23.97km (15mi) - pretty much same as last week! Total in 2010: 116.4km (72.75mi) I'm 20km ahead of schedule for my 1000km Challenge...
The theme for February is "Love." I like the idea of giving proofs of love. I'm workin' on it.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
"Next weekend" always occurs after "this weekend". It never occurs before it. Since "this weekend" is never in the past, that means that "next weekend" will occur a week after the "this [forthcoming] weekend." Anybody who thinks that "next weekend" is less than a week away is forgetting that "this weekend" exists. [source]I really couldn't agree more! Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The second episode of the Geek Girl Runner podcast is now available! Thanks to everyone who listened to the first episode and gave feedback. This episode features: housekeeping, my training update; emails, comments, and shoutouts; and a discussion of forefoot running and my Newtons. Show links: Opera in the Domain Sydney Fruit Bats David Ianni - runner in Germany Newton Running Blog Running Podcasts "Biomechanics of Foot Strikes..." study by Prof. Lieberman BBC story on forefoot running NPR study on forefoot running Thanks as usual to Nick Arthur for the use of his song "Little Donut Party". Please give me some feedback and let me know what you think! Monday, February 1, 2010
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archives
You can search through the archives by post keyword using the form on the left, or you can browse by month using the links at the bottom.
"Moblog" refers to posts and images posted directly from my mobile phone.
"PW Blog" refers to posts recovered from my very first weblog, which dealt with news related to my college dorm. |
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